Atlanta Hawks guard Joe Johnson fakes out Golden State Warriors forward Andris Biedrins of Latvia on his way to the basket during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Atlanta, Tuesday, March 7, 2006. (AP Photo/John Amis) less

Atlanta Hawks guard Joe Johnson fakes out Golden State Warriors forward Andris Biedrins of Latvia on his way to the basket during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Atlanta, Tuesday, March 7, 2006. (AP ... more

Photo: JOHN AMIS

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Golden State Warriors' Adonal Foyle goes high to defend on a shot by Atlanta Hawks' Al Harrington, left, during the half of an NBA basketball game in Atlanta, Tuesday, March 7, 2006. (AP Photo/John Amis)

Golden State Warriors' Adonal Foyle goes high to defend on a shot by Atlanta Hawks' Al Harrington, left, during the half of an NBA basketball game in Atlanta, Tuesday, March 7, 2006. (AP Photo/John Amis)

Photo: JOHN AMIS

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Warriors again fail in fourth

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2006-03-08 04:00:00 PDT Atlanta -- Believe it or not, the Warriors engaged in an old-fashioned duel with the Hawks on Tuesday. Jason Richardson was matching Joe Johnson shot for shot. Both teams were running and gunning. Both were sizzling from 3-point range. Both were pacing themselves for a big finish.

Then the fourth quarter came.

And just like the Warriors' previous game against Minnesota, everything skidded to a halt. A one-point lead turned into a double-digit deficit, and before the Warriors knew it, the score was 113-106 and another defeat was in the books.

Do the Warriors get tired? Do their opponents ratchet up their effort? Are the Warriors not matching that intensity? Do they lack confidence when the fourth quarter comes and the game is on the line?

Coach Mike Montgomery voiced all those questions after the loss, and though he answered himself with "maybe," "maybe," "I don't know," and "It's really hard," the truth seems rather simple:

Yes, yes, yes and yes.

"That fourth quarter comes, it's crunch time, the defense picks up and we don't execute well enough," forward Mike Dunleavy said. "We don't do things like setting screens or making hard cuts. ... In order to be a good team in this league, in order to score in the fourth quarter, you've got to have precision. You got to pay attention to the little things.

"And quite honestly, I think our team has struggled with that all season long."

Fact is, all the Warriors seem to be struggling, aside from Richardson. His duel with Johnson, the Hawks' lone All-Star, was so equal that both finished with career highs of 42 points. Richardson's total tied his previous best set Jan. 17, 2005, against the Nuggets, when he returned from a nine-game layoff because of a sprained ankle.

But to him, there was no question which performance was better. The Warriors walked away from the Denver game with a 107-97 win. On Tuesday, they limped to Charlotte with a three-game losing streak and are a season-low 10 games under .500.

Dunleavy used the term "spurtable" to describe the Warriors, and it perfectly summed up their night. Golden State surged to a 16-0 run in the first quarter to open a 12-point lead. The Warriors held that same margin with 3:13 left in the second period, then were outscored 12-2 to close out the half.

They committed three turnovers in that span, none more deflating than Josh Smith intercepting Derek Fisher's inbounds pass with a second to play and banking in a 31-footer at the buzzer.

Then after Adonal Foyle opened the fourth quarter with a layup to give Golden State an 82-79 lead, the Warriors went scoreless for more than five minutes. By the time Fisher hit a pair of free throws with 5:56 to play, the Warriors were down by six and on their way to defeat.

So the team that has had trouble closing out games, is now having trouble just keeping it close.

"It's not the crunch time, I think it's five or 10 minutes before crunch time when we're having a 10-point lead, 15-point lead, and we're not taking care of the ball," said Richardson, who topped the 35-point plateau in consecutive games for the second time in his career.

"I think that's our biggest problem. When we have leads, we've got to be a lot more smart with the ball."